Kuksiks more than outside shooter

Now healthy and adjusted, sophomore productive, 'happy'

by Jeff Metcalfe - Dec. 12, 2008 07:47 PMThe Arizona Republic

Imagine being Rihards Kuksiks.

You show up late, relatively speaking, as a freshman basketball player at Arizona State because your teammates were on campus during the summer. Most people can't pronounce your name (Reh-HARDS KOOK-siks) and plenty can't find your native Latvia on a map.

You are too heavy and out of shape for the demands of college ball, plus there is something wrong with your left knee. Trying to explain why it hurts not to play is difficult because of your limited English.

"Now I'm happy I'm on the court," said Kuksiks, happy as a sophomore to be known as Rick and even happier to be showing that the No. 20 Sun Devils (7-1) are about more than James Harden.

"It's way better," he said. "Basketball takes everything else away and just makes life happy."

The 6-foot-6 forward is coming off his two highest-scoring games: 16 vs. Jackson State on Dec. 4 and 18 against Nebraska three days later. Up next is Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (5-3) at 1:15 p.m. Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader at US Airways Center.

"There will be games when somebody has to step up," Kuksiks said. "Other teams are going to play James (tight) and won't let him go. We'll have to score points."

Kuksiks has a team-high 20 3-pointers and is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

Kuksiks was unable to jump as a freshman because of iliotibial band pain in his knee, transforming him from a player who dunked several times a game while at Florida Air Academy to essentially an outside shooter. He rehabilitated the injury in time to play with the Latvian Under-20 national team in the summer, then returned to a more-expanded role with ASU than he had last season.

"He feels better, and he's much better conditioned," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "He's really toned his body. The combination of those factors are allowing him to move and feel much better, whether it's defensively or on offense and even in transition. He's just able to get around better.

"No matter how talented you are, that first year (in college), whether you play sports or not, is a year of transition for most all of us."

Coy leaving

Guard Johnny Coy is leaving ASU to return to home to St. Joseph, Mo., to be with his father, Richard, who is ill.